1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pinball machines, and more particularly to an interactive game feature. The present invention specifically relates to a playfield section that is selectively moved in response to player input, ball position or game sequences.
2. Background Art
A pinball game has an inclined playfield and a plurality of play features arranged on the playfield. A player operates flippers to direct a ball at playfield features such as targets or ramps to score points. The configuration of the playfield features may change as a result of the presence of the ball. Drop targets, for example, drop beneath the playfield when struck by the ball.
The flippers are typically pivoted by solenoids to strike the ball. Typically one or more flippers that pivot in a clockwise direction are mounted at lower right peripheral positions of the playfield, and one or more flippers that pivot in a counter-clockwise direction are mounted at lower left peripheral positions of the playfield. The flippers on the right side of the playfield are activated by a player-operated push-button on the right side of the game housing, and the flippers on the left side of the playfield are activated by a player-operated push-button on the left side of the game housing.
The configuration of the playfield may be changed in response to a game sequence programmed into a microcomputer that also keeps track of the player's score. The microcomputer is responsive to various switches such as ball target switches, and switches that sense the state or configuration of the playfield. As described in Borg, U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,049, for example, the configuration of an entire section of the playfield can be changed by rotating the playfield section to expose different components that were previously stored below the playfield surface.